Drums typically include a cylindrical shell or body with a head placed over one or more ends of the shell. The outer edge of the head is held against the shell with a hoop. The hoop is clamped to the shell with a series of fasteners that apply force to hold the head taught. The fasteners often comprise a set of circumferentially spaced tension rods that are connected to the outer surface of the drum body. Threaded lugs pass through a set of circumferentially spaced apertures in the hoop to engage the threaded ends of the tension rods. The lugs are adjusted to adjust the amount of tension on the drum head.
Drum shells may be made of wood, metal, acrylic, plastic, carbon fiber, or other materials. Drum shells come in a variety of finishes that may include different colors or patterns. Drum shells are subject to a great amount of wear and tear. Musicians in a marching band often carry their drums during a performance, and many musicians travel from venue to venue to play their instruments. As a result of this wear and tear, the finish of the drum shell becomes marred and needs to be repaired or refinished.
Prior art methods of refinishing drum shells include repainting the shell or adhesively applying a flexible cover material (or “wrap”) to the shell. Both of these methods are undesirable because they are difficult and time consuming. To repaint a drum shell, a user must completely disassemble the drum, take necessary steps to prepare and paint the shell, and wait for the shell to dry before reassembling the drum. From beginning to end, this process may take several days.
Similarly, the user must completely disassemble the drum to apply traditional flexible cover materials. The user applies an adhesive to the drum shell and then applies the covering material to the shell. Once the adhesive cures, the drum is reassembled. Applying a traditional flexible covering material is time consuming and tedious because a user must trim the material to fit around any holes in the drum shell and around any hardware attached to the drum shell.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a drum shell cover that is easily and quickly installed and provides a musician the ability to easily and quickly change the appearance of a drum.